The Conqsequnces of Perplexity
by LLN
Summary: A different tpye of Xander saves Cordelia. Slash sort of, genderbending. set season 1 of Angelseason 4 buffy AU.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Consequences Of Perplexity

Chapter: One

Author: LLN

Fandom: Buffy/Angel Crossover AU.

Pairing: None at the moment. Tell ya as they come. Will be SLASH.

Disclaimer: don't own'em.

Feedback: is like chocolate. So feed the need.

Summary: You only need to know Doyle is dead. not that I don't like

The character, I do..mmm, those eyes. But for my story he doesn't fit.

Cordelia still lives in her old apartment. Angel hasn't got the Gem of Amara

Yet. A different Xander saves Cordelia.

Transcripts used from Angeles, you see it at night and it shines. Like a beacon. People are drawn to it. People and other things. They come for all sorts of reasons, my reasons. No surprise there. It started with a girl…'

Angel, City of…-Angel the Series.

During the auction Cordelia watched as Barney, that little scumbag of a demon sell demonic items knowing that she was next on the block.

'_Where's Angel, when you really need him_?' she wondered. She looked around the room taking in the sight of all the different species of demons and humans. She noticed one woman; she was leaning against the wall next to the door, looking bored at the whole scene.

The woman had the same build and height as Cordelia herself. She had a heart-shaped face with pouty lips, long waist length dark brown hair, a shade lighter than Cordelia's own. But it was the woman's eyes that kept your attention. Cordelia couldn't tell the color but they seemed to glow. In short the woman was a hottie.

Cordelia, mostly noticed **how** she was dressed…

'_Uhgg, …White-Trash Chic…mmm, she does seem to be pulling it off well._' Thought Cordelia.

Lace-up Doc Martin boots, black leather-jeans, and a white t-shirt worn under a light brown suede duster.

" Next up lot 32. We're lucky to have this here today. It's a rare and beautiful find." Said

Barney, that weasel. As his human partner Hank takes off Cordelia's gag and leads her to the stage.

"I'm not really a Seer. I only had one vision and I'm sure is was something I ate…" Hank puts a hand over her mouth.

"The maginascent eyes of a Seer."

'Well, the loser's right…my eye's **are** magnificent.' Thought Cordelia.

"Your very own pipeline to the Powers That Be, folks. The possiblies are endless. Keep the girl as a slave, remove the head as a trophy or simply harvest the eyes in any case, a unique party icebreaker! It doesn't get any better than this. Let's start the bidding at 2000.

Do I hear 2000!"?

And so began the bidding, the price got higher and higher. Slowly though it started to end at a price that Cordelia found insulting.

'_I'm worth** ten times**__that!_ '

"Hey! You know you pay twice that for cataracts. Theses eyes are flaws even without the stupid visions. **That's** the _best_ you can **do**! " Cordelia insults the crowd. The bidding began again.

"12,000, 13,000 going for, 12,000."said Barney happily. Cordelia stalled for more time.

"**Come on**, have some huvoes guy!" she called to a long haired, white demon dressed Goth like, sitting next to a blond man in a white suit.

"Whitey, there is stepping all over you! Are you going to take that from his kind?"

Cordelia saw the dark-haired woman; shake her head at Cordelia's antics.

'_There's something about her…something familiar.'_ She thought.

Hank stepped forward to shut Cordelia up. But Barney stopped him. Every time Cordelia got mouthy the bidding got higher. He like that, then the Goth like demon killed the blond man.

"30,000!" said a businesswoman.

"Sold! To the lovely lady lawyer from Wolfram&Hart."

In a storeroom, people were picking up the demonic items they had bought. Cordelia is standing quietly having been threaten to be regaged.

"We won't be needing the body. My employer has requested that the eyes be removed," said the lady lawyer.

"Well…an extraction is a very delicate process," said Barney looking to make some extra from this," We run the risk of damaging the gift. It's going to cost you an extra thou."

The lawyer looks put out.

"Extraction is always included in the price."

" Not with Seer's eyes."

"Never heard of such a thing!"

"There's never **been** such a thing on the market. An extra thousand or you take as is."

The lawyer looks thoughtful for a moment. Cordelia got hopeful.

"Go a head."

Hope came crashing down.

Barney rubs his hands together. Then looks at Hank who was holding Cordelia, and threatening her with a sharp metal looking clamp.

"Give me the extractor," he told Hank, who looked disappointed.

"But…I wanted to do it. You know that. I've been begging you…"

"Hank! "Barney says sharply," your embarrassing yourself. Hand it over."

Hank does do reputedly. Cordelia whimpers in fear.

"Stop!"

said a voice from the doorway, as Cordelia got pushed into a chair. She saw the dark-haired woman from before.

"Go any closer to Cordy, and I'll tear out your heart!" growled the woman.

'_Cordy? Do I know her?'_ wondered Cordelia, as she mentally went through everyone she knew.

"…eyes!" said the woman as Cordelia tuned back in to what was being said.

"There her best feature. I loved staring into them when we made out in the janitor's closet in high school."

Cordelia blinked at that statement. She had done **that** with only one person, and that person had been **male**! But she was a good child of Sunnydale and just went with the weird, saying…

"Xander!"

Xander Harris smiled at his..er…her..at Cordelia.

"Sooo, good that you remember me." She said.

"Wow, Xan, being a female **must** really agree with you. Your fashion sense has really improved."Cordelia said with a smirk. Just because Xander was know a woman and apparently here to rescue her, didn't mean she had to make it easy.

"Cordy, sweetheart, it's not nice to make fun of the person rescuing you. I might decide not too. Besides, what was wrong with my fashion sense?"

"You didn't have any. **That** was the problem!"

"Not that I don't find this interesting," said the lady lawyer interrupting the banter between the two, "but I'm on a schedule."

"Time to make some money." Barney said, in the blink of an eye Xander, was shoving Barney away from Cordelia. It was about that time a man came sailing through the door of the storage room. Angel and Wesley burst into the room.

"Ah, the Calvary arrvives."She mutters.

The security guards try to stop Angel. While Wesley hops on a foot trying to get a knife he had taped there. Xander grabs one of the guards, and shoves him into another guard heading for Angel, both guards fall down. Wesley has fallen to the floor still trying to get the knife free. As he kicks the stake out of the third guard's hands, Angel is being held by two other guards. Xander punches out the guard that tried to stake Angel, the guard goes down.

Angel had seen the woman helping them, but it was now that he noticed her scent.

Sunshine, chocolate, something primal and earthy, death and the taint all of the children of the hell mouth carry. He had known only one person with that scent.

"Harris?" He asked in shock, because there was **no way** that it could be him. Angel hit one of the guards knocking him out.

"Nice to see you too, Deadboy!"

'_Yeah, that's Harris. Only he was brave enough…or stupid enough to call me that to my face.'_ Angel thought.

"You look different."

Xander gave him the 'are you stupid'look.

"Thank you, States-the-Obvious."Xander said punching a guard.

Wesley laughed as he heard that, as he made his way to Cordelia. He had always found Xander's wit amusing, when it wasn't directed at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, when he got over to her.

"I'm sooo, far not."Cordelia said motioning with her tied up wrists.

"Right writs!" says Wesley trying one more time to get his knife free.

" Come on, Wesley!"

He then sees a claw of some various demon, he picks it up, and uses it to saw through the ropes.


	2. Chapter 2

The Consequences of Perplexity-Ch. 2

A guard managed to get a lucky punch to Xander's jaw.

"Ok, now I'm pissed." Xander mutters as her eyes glow an eerie demonic green.

"What the hell are you?" asks the guard.

"My secret. "She growled then hit the guard with a spin kick taking him down.

Barney hits Wesley with a right, in which Wesley returns a left cross. Barney stumbles back from the hit.

"You! Butcher! And an innocent girl!" said Wesley pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I'm going to thrush you within an inch of your life…then I'm gonna take that inch!"

The lady lawyer from Wolfram&Hart had made good her escape in all the commotion. As she walked up the stairs of the hotel, talking on her cell phone.

"Our merchandise was just taken off the market." She told her employers.

"Three guesses by whom?" she paused listening, "That's not all, and there's a new player in the game."

Xander and Angel were fighting the last of the security guards. Wesley was pounding Barney's head into the floor. Barney rolls over on top of Wesley. Cordelia seeing Wesley in trouble picks up a horn from a near by table.

"Feel this Creepo!" says Cordelia as she stabs Barney in the back with it. Barney rolls off Wesley and tries to grab, Cordelia who steps back away from him, he collapses on the floor. His body turns gray and crackles, and then it turns black as it slowly deflates. Angel runs up to Cordelia as Xander goes over to help Wesley.

'You, ok, Wes?" asks Xander. Wesley looks up into Xander's eyes and nods.

"…A rogue demon hunter." They hear Angel say, Wesley smiles slightly.

"Glad I could be of service." He says. Xander looks at Wesley in confusion.

"What? A rogue demon?"

Wesley sighs as he stood up.

"There are no rogue demons per sa…" he stops at Xander's laugh.

"Wes, man, honesty. We of Sunnydale may be ditzy, but we're not **that** ditzy…except maybe Cordelia." That remark earned Xander a slap on the arm as they walked out of the storage room.

"Owwie!" whined Xander.

"Baby!" sneered Cordelia.

"Bitch!" Xander threw out.

"Proud of it!"


	3. Chapter 3

The Consequence of Perplexity-ch3

Back at Angel's apartment Cordelia sat at the kitchen table ironing her wrinkled drawing of the gray statue. Xander sat in amazement watching as Angel cooked.

"Not, that he didn't have it coming. He was a horrible evil monster." Said Cordelia.

"Hmm…he did kill a lot of people." Angel said stirring the eggs he was cooking. Wesley was packing his bag off to the side.

"Viciously mutilated their corpses." He added.

"Plus he started the bidding on you for a paltry 2000 dollars." Said Xander.

"How did you find out about the auction Mr…err, Miss Harris?" Wesley asks.

"Strange things are heard in the Sunnydale Underground. I needed a change…and thought I could help…please call me Xander." Cordelia and Angel looked at each other.

"Underground?" asks Cordelia.

"Willie." Said Angel.

Xander grinned," They don't call him the 'Snitch' for nothing," as her mouth begins to water at the scent of the cooking eggs. Cordelia turns to Xander.

"So why are…"she trailed off at the look on Xander's face. It was a strange mixture of sadness and anger.

"Why are you here?" Said Angel as he added salt to the eggs.

"Wanted to see LA." Xander said Angel, knew there had to be more to it than that. He sighed, he had forgotten that trying to get answers out of Xander was like getting teeth pulled…

"Well I'm framing this picture for saving my life, and as a reminder of something of Doyle's in our office…Xander, "Cordelia said in a tone Xander remembered from when they dated. It said 'truth now, mister!' Xander cursed softly.

"If you ever get the chance to date a ex-vengeance demon, **don't**…and let's leave it at that."

Wesley clears his throat. They look at him.

"Well," he said holding his bag," I'll be off then." Angel shakes Wesley's hand then reaches into the fridge.

"Wesley, by the way the leather," says Xander " sooo, much better than the tweed!"

Wesley blushed at the complement, which Dander thought was neat.

"Do you even know where you're headed?" asked Cordelia. Wesley shook his head.

"We, rogue demon hunters rarely do. Where evil lurks, wherever the forces of darkness threatens humanity. That's where I'll be…"

Angel set the table and poured orange juice for Cordelia and Xander.

"Well, ok, keep in touch." Cordelia said.

"Yes, yes, I will." He said as he picked up his bag and was walking toward the door.

"But now evil lurking where ever bids me onwards." He looks back at Cordelia who's drinking her juice, Angel is cooking. He slowly disappears around the corner to go up the stairs. But a moment later the strolls back into the room.

"No rest for the wicked fighters, through storms and rain, heat and famine…" he sees Angel putting some scrambled eggs on a plate, his stomach growls.

"Deep, painful hunger…gnawing hunger-I go!"

Xander shakes her head at Wesley's speech in amusement and shares a look with Angel.

"Breakfast?" asks Angel pointing to the eggs in the pan with the spatula. Wesley quickly puts down his bag.

"Oh, I suppose so." He says as he takes off his jacket.

Cordelia smiles at him.

"One of the perks of the job,"Cordelia says to the other two, "after a night of fighting the lurking evil…we get eggs."

"Eggs…uh?" Xander said taking a plate from Angel with a grateful smile. It seemed like forever since she ate.

"Eggs."Cordelia, as Angel passes a plate to Wesley.

"Toast?" Angel sets the plate with the toast on the table.

"I'm famished," said Cordelia taking a bite of the eggs in her plate, "he's a good cook for someone on the liquid diet."

"Astonishing really." said Wesley absently as he begins to eat.

"Did you say something about toast?" Xander asks Angel, as all three of them reach for some.

"God, Deadboy, forget that redemption crap, become a chief."Xander told him moaning in pleasure at the taste of the food. Angel just laughed, it was a nice sound, one Xander wished had happened more in Sunnydale.


	4. Chapter 4

The Consequence of Perplexity...Ch.4 Room With a View...

After the four spent sometime catching up, Wesley returned to his hotel room. Xander and Cordelia left Angel's apartment. Wesley had given them a number in which they could contact him with.

They standing out side of Cordelia's apartment...

"It's not much, but it's home!" Cordelia said putting the key into the door, then opening it. The key sticks in the lock and she bangs her elbow on the doorframe. She turns on the light.

"This is much better than my parents basement. Good lighting..." said Xander as the light flickers, "No moldy smell"  
Cordelia laughs softly she knew Xander was trying to make her feel better. She knew this place was a dump.

"Well, we'll have to share the pull out sofa. Hope you don't mind"  
Xander grinned.

"Share a bed with the Cordelia Chase? The dream of every male in Sunnydale High."

"Pig!"

Xander sat down on the sofa, as Cordelia gathered up some dirty dishes to take to the kitchen. She watched the two HUGE cockroaches that were sitting on top of the TV. They would wave their antenna at each other then at Xander. She got the feeling.  
A shriek came from the kitchen.

"Cor!"

"I'm fine! The...the water spurted at me." She said coming into the living room.

"Pack a bag, Cordy!" Xander said still watching the roaches.

"Why?"

"We are not staying with the radioactive armor plated mutant cockroaches. I think they're planning something." After Xander said that one of the roaches rose up on it's back legs and hissed at them.

"Going,"Cordelia agreed, " Where are we going?"

"My motel room."

"So how is this place supposed to be better than my apartment?" Cordelia asked with a sneering tone. Xander sighed, true this place wasn't in the best part of town but it was cheep and it did have something going for it that Cordelia's place didn't.

"This place is a rat trap...not a roach motel."

"You have a point." Said Cordelia.

"Look, why don't you go get us some sodas from the machine down the hall?" Xander said handing her a couple of dollars. Cordelia shifted her overnight bag on her shoulder.

"Fine. But don't think I'll make a habit of this."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Cor"  
Xander watched her go, and then turned toward her room door. Her eyes glowed briefly before she opened the door. Walking in she left the door open, and turned on a near by light. She noticed her overnight bag was next to the door, look like some one threw it over there.

'Funny, I thought I left that on the bed.' She thought.

"Hello, Hyena"  
Xander turned at the sound of the voice. A demon with brown skin with spines on and along the sides of his hairless head. He had a gun pointed at her, which had been the first thing she had learned when she got to LA. The demons here weren't stuck in the middle ages.

"I think you got the wrong place." Xander said calmly.

"You owe money."

"It's all about the money. What about friendship and family, all the things that are priceless, like in that credit card commercial." The demon just looks at her.  
"Yeah, I don't believe in those things either." She sighs, " OK, I can see you're a demon of focus...I have the money over here." She walks over to a dresser, and opens a drawer she reaches into it. The demon suddenly comes up behind her, slamming the draw on her hand. She suppresses a cry of pain.

"Your not dumb enough to have a gun in there are you?" asked the demon.

"No! I hate guns. Here look!" said Xander pulling out the drawer and hits the demon in the chin with it, he staggers back a ways. Xander runs out the door, grabbing her bag along the way, goes down the hall. She grabs Cordelia's arm, causing her to drop the sodas she was carrying.

"Hey, what's with the grabbing?" asks Cordelia while trying to get Xander to let her go.

'Less talking, more running!" Cordelia saw the demon over Xander's shoulder.

"Right!"

When they got to the street, Xander whistled loudly, stopping a near by cab. They get in and Cordelia give the driver her address, as Xander watched the demon look around for them as the drove away.

"So how long have you been in LA?" Asks Cordelia when she got her breath back.

" Just a few weeks, less than a month." Xander mutters.

"Long enough to make such interesting friends." Cordelia snarks.

"Yeah, interesting, that's one word for it." 


	5. Chapter 5

The Consequence of Perplexity Ch. 5

They stood outside of Angel's apartment door; you could hear the soft strands of classical music playing through the door.

"Cordelia, are you sure he won't mind?" Xander asked her.

"Do you want to go back to the roaches or better yet your interesting friend?"

"No." Xander said softly.

"Then let me handle everything." Cordelia said as she knocked on the door.

The next morning Xander sat at the kitchen table brushing her long hair. Trying not to tangle it. She couldn't believe Deadboy let them stay. But the sight of a mostly naked, dripping wet from the shower, Deadboy was something she could have lived without seeing...maybe it was the girl hormones...but she had almost found him attractive that way. Xander shouldered at the thought. And admired Cordelia for not letting the sight distract her from talking him into letting them stay. Xander sighed as she laid down the brush, noticing the bruise on her hand. Cordelia came out of the bathroom wearing a white terrycloth robe, combing her hair with her fingers.

'I still don't understand how you got him to let us stay here." Xander said as Cordelia picked up a metal vase to look at her reflection.

"It was all about confusing him so he didn't know why we were here in the first place. Why doesn't he have any mirrors." Cordelia said in frustration. .

"Cause he's a vampire?"

"Like it would kill him to see himself." Cordelia muttered. Angel comes walking into the kitchen wearing a black silk open robe and boxers.

"Guess that answers that question." Said Xander. Angel looks confused.

"What question?"

"Boxers or briefs." Smirked Xander. Angel sighed then said.

"One of you got peanut butter on the bed."

"Really," said Cordelia, " I don't think so." Angel holds up a hand with pea butter on it.  
"I'll go look." She said heading into the bedroom. Angel sighs again and uses a hand towel to get the pea butter off his hand then looks at Xander.

"Why are you two here again?"

"Mutant cockroaches."

"Ahhh!"

When Cordelia came back she was dressed.

"Angel, at some point in resent history you got pea butter on the bed, it's gross. I think you need to change the sheets." Angel makes a noise then stalks off towards the bedroom.

"That was cool." Said Xander.

"I do have a away with him don't I." Cordelia said with a grin then gives Xander a hard look.

"You know, you should tell him about your interesting friend."

"Drop it, Cor."

"But I really think..."

"Drop it!"

Angel came back into the kitchen because of the raised voices.

"Something wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing just..." Xander said with a wave of her right hand.

" You got a bruise on your hand." Angel stated. Xander looked down at it.

"Got it stuck in a drawer." She said truthfully. Xander saw Angel was about to ask questions that she didn't want answer right now. She distracted Angel by pointing out the wet towel on his leather chair.

"And the reason why is..." Angel said as Cordelia gives him a big fake smile. He sighs and leaves the room.

A few hours later Xander watched as Cordelia cut up Angel's vinyl floor with a knife.

"What are you doing"  
Cordelia looks like a kid with there hand stuck in the cookie jar.

"I just wanted to see if there are hardwood floors under here you know I ...we may be here awhile"  
Xander shook her head then looked at the trophies Cordelia had put on a shelf.

"Yep, there it is. My whole life pre-here five trophies with some of the shiny wore off." She told Xander, who had seen her win some of them.

"At least you got the trophies."

Angel came down the stairs.

"Xander...You down here? Oh! There you are. There's a big guy here to see you. I'll tell him you'll be right up."

"Yeah, you do that." Xander said weakly. Angel nods and goes back upstairs. Xander looks at Cordelia then bolts out the back door, she runs down a hall through another door and almost over Angel.

"You, sooo, need that bell we talked about." Angel gave her a hard look.

"Your going to tell me what's going on."

Xander and Angel sat in the office.

"You don't even know who this demon is collecting for! Xander how could you be so stupid to get involved with demons considering where you're from"  
Xander sighed.

"Look, here's how it works: I owe some people, some people owe me. I do a favor for some guy and the debt goes away. It's a system of checks and balances."

"And some of you checks didn't balance"  
Xander shook her head.

"Apparently not. Well it will work out. It just takes a bit of diplomacy, which I don't have, but hear you've gotten good at. And since Cordy is worried I 'm going to ask to you to take a crack at it." Said Xander.

"We all have problems." Angel said with a sigh, "It's a matter of priorities, and at the moment I've got one bigger than you."

"Bigger than a Kailiff demon?"

"Much! I'm thinking you help me with mine and maybe I can help you with yours." He told her.

"I don't know? What's your problem? Cause you know vampire stuff..." Xander trailed off when Cordelia came up to them and cleared her throat.

"Hi," she smiles and waves. "I was just wondering if you have any linoleum glue...for if it started curling up all over." Xander tried not to snicker, but not very hard.

"I'll be there in a minute." Angel tells her with a blank look.

"Ok." Cordelia said walking away to create more havoc.

"Find her and you an apartment...and I'll deal with your demon." 


	6. Chapter 6

The Consequence Of Perplexity Ch.6

Xander made some phone calls to some of the human and demons contracts she had made in the short in time she had been in LA. She made a list of available apartments to give to Cordelia, then pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and dials the number on it.

"Hello? Wes...its Xander. What? No, no evil afoot or anything like that. No! Angel's not evil...yet. Look I called cause I need to ask a favor...you will! That's great! This is what I need you to do..."

Angel was gathering up weapons when he noticed Xander standing at the foot of the stairs.

"I thought..."

"That's covered, I asked Wes to go with Cordy to look at the apartments."

"Wesley!"

"Yes, look I gave him a list of detailed instructions. They'll be fine."

"Why are you here then?" Angel sighed out already knowing the answer.

"I'm going with you."

"No, you'll just get in the way ."

"Deadboy, I'm going! I won't let them know I'm afraid of them...if I want to scream girly like and hide behind you, which is okay now that I'm a girl"  
Angel knew Xander was not going to be talked out of this by the look on her face.

'She looks almost cute with that expression.' Angel then shook his head to rid himself of that thought.

"Alright. But I do all the talking"  
Xander nodded.

"...And the threatening." Again a nod.

"And the hitting." A pause then a small nod.

"I'm glad we understand each other." He said thinking that Xander had agreed to that far to easily.

In Xander's motel room, Angel paces as she sits on the bed. Bored, Xander lies back on the bed with a huff. The Kailiff demon comes out of the shadows from nowhere, he wraps his arms around Angel's neck. Angel growls and goes into gameface. He breaks the other demon's hold and gets thrown into a wall.

"Angel!" said Xander sitting up.

"Stay there"  
Angel turns and grabs the demon, pushing his face into a wall.

"Hello, My name's Angel. What's yours?"

"Screw you!"

'That will just piss him off.' Xander thought.  
Angel pulls the demons head back then smashes it onto the wall.

"My name's Angel. What's yours?" he repeats.  
The demon growls, Angel smashes the demon's face into the wall again.

"Giff," the demon says finally.

"Good start. Who do you work for?"

"Never gave me his card." Said Giff smirking. Angel throws him to the floor.

"Don't know his name. But he gets his orders to me."

"Can you get a message to him?" Angel asks.

"Yeah"  
Angel goes back into his human face and pulls Giff to his feet.

"Your letting me go?" Giff asked confused.

"No, I'm letting you up you were sent to collect for Xander."

"At first." Giff said looking at Xander now as a smirk came across his face.  
"But I'm not seeing any money. Now Xander gets dead. As a message to the others."

"Your boss will never get his money that way. Pretty expensive message if you ask me when you add in whatever he's paying you." Xander said in a bored tone looking at her nails. Angel glared at her, someone forgot who was supposed to do all the talking.

"Xander will pay you the money. You have my guarantee." Angel told him.

"I saw, what I saw...right? You're a vampire. How come you're helping the bitch"  
Angels growled and his face flickers between human and demon.

"Cause she's mine . It's a good offer, take it. On the other hand you make me want to fight some more. You get lucky you might last ten minutes. Really lucky and your unconscious the last five."

"You get the bit-" Giff broke off at the louder growl from Angel, " ...Xander to pay and she's safe." 


	7. Chapter 7

The Consequence of Perplexity Ch. 7

Back at Angel's apartment...Xander is pacing like a cat in a cage.

"I have to pay ! I should have handled this by myself. I don't have the money, Deadboy. You can't get blood out of stone!"

"They can get blood out of you!" Angel half-shouted at her.

Xander sighed, " I know. You probably saved my life"  
Angel gives her a worried look.

"Can I ask you something"  
Xander nods.

"Why are you living this way? It's not at all like the boy I remember." Xander rolls her eyes at Angel.

"In case you haven't noticed I'm not a guy anymore. When I left Sunnydale it was pretty much with just the clothes on my back."

"Cordelia said you'd been in LA almost a month?"

"Yeah," Xander laughs sadly, " Look that how well I've done for myself! This kind of life...it keeps my expectations from getting to high. Did that, got my heart broke. After the mess I left in Sunnydale..." Xander trailed off. Angel was hoping she would say more about it but seemed to shake herself out of the memories. "You should understand that."

"I do," said Angel, " this kind of life...picked me. You don't have to do this. What happened"  
Xander sighed heavily.

"I did what I had too. I chose this path years ago. But your not the only one life or fate decided to screw over. Besides the contacts I've made helped get Cordelia her new apartment. Which I'm going to go see...right now." Said Xander walking toward the stairs.

"Xander"  
Xander stopped and turned to look at Angel.

"I don't want to have this conversation...Ever!" She said then continued to the stairs and up them.

"Xander"  
But she was gone.

"Isn't this place perfect!" exclaimed Cordelia after showing Xander in.

"Yeah, perfect. Cordelia, do you know what happened to my over night bag. It's not at Deadboy's anymore?"

"All the furniture came with it. It's perfect!" Cordelia said ignoring the question.

"Cordy."

"And the kitchen as a dishwasher...it's in the second bedroom. Hard wood floors."

"The dishwasher?" asked Xander confused.

"No, your bag, lamebrain. Try to keep up with the conversation." Cordelia lightly mocked.

" Why is it in the second bedroom"  
Cordelia rolled her eyes at the question.

"Cause I need a roommate, duh! You really can't go back to your motel room with that..."

"Yeah, Deadboy took care of that." Xander told her.

"Oh, so that's why you two looked so cozy together in the office." Cordelia smirked.

"What! Who was cozy, there was no cozying...and you should tease the person who had the contacts to get you this perfect apartment." Xander babbled out.

"Riiigght, so roomies?" She asked with a small bounce.

"Well, it's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"Although," Cordelia said with a put out look, " I have a bone to pick with you. I mean sending Wesley of all people with me!"

"Come on he was at a loose end, thought maybe you both would rekindle old feelings for each other." Xander said with a small smirk.

"Uggh, please that ship never even floated." Said Cordelia wearing 'eww'face.

"I figured he needed something to do. It's not like he knows a lot of people here in LA. Did he act like he didn't want to help you?" Xander asked cause if he had hurt Cordelia's feeling, she was going to hurt Wesley.

"Well, no."

"There you go then."

Cordelia shook her head. She had never understood Xander while they were dating, she really didn't get her now . Cordelia smiled at Xander.

"Let's get you settled in your room. I know you're tired. I am too. Oh, I can't wait to help you decorate it...Roomie." Cordelia said happily. Xander had to laugh at her enthusiasm about the place.

"This place is so perfect!" Cordelia repeated. 


	8. Chapter 8

The Consequence of Perplexity Ch.8

Xander walks into the bathroom just as Cordelia leaves it, muttering to herself in an overly happy tone about it being a 'bright and shiny morning'. That was Xander's first warning that this was going to be a bad day. But she was still mostly asleep so she ignored it.  
Xander did all the morning bathroom things you do, as she brushed her teeth looking at the girl in the mirror she sighed. Every day she hoped to see boy-him in the mirror, and every day was disappointed. As she finished brushing her teeth, she heard Cordelia scream. Running out of the bathroom into the living room she heard Cordelia yelling.

"...I get it! You're a ghost! Your DEAD. Big accomplishment! Move on...you see a light, go towards it."

"If it's a ghost, Cordy, I doubt it saw the light in the first place"  
A cold wind blew threw the room.

"Ooo, a cold wind, how cliché! What are you going to do..."

"Stop egging it on, Cor!"

"...blow me to death?"

"That so didn't sound right." Xander muttered then decides to help Cordelia irrated the ghost " Ah, come on is that all you got"  
The wind dies suddenly, and then a knock came at the door causing both of the girls to jump.

"Cordelia! Xander! "  
They looked at each other then at the door. Cordelia goes and hesitantly opens it. Angel and Wesley are standing there. Xander after seeing them starts to clean up the mess the ghost made.

"Angel...and Wesley, why are you here?" Cordelia asked.

"Cactus," Angel said holding up a potted one. "Housewarming present"  
Wesley cleared his throat.

"I thought you might need some help settling in.," he said as he tries to come in but Cordelia stops him.

"Thanks, but I'm getting the place just how I want it. And I have Xander. Xan's gonna be my roomie!"

"Xander's here?" said Wesley pushing past Cordelia, looking for Xander.  
"Rude much," Cordelia mutters at the Englishman. Wesley spotted Xander putting shards of a broken vase in a box. She looks up at him.

"Hi, Wes."

"I don't know what you were thinking. Sending me on that escapade. You know the oddest people. Those cult people..."

"Come on, Wes, you know you had fun, admit it!"

"I most certain did..."

"What about the rule!" they heard Cordelia shriek. As Angel walked into the apartment.

"You said when you got a place I was completely invited over." Angel reminded her.

"What, I didn't even have a place then"  
Xander smirked then walked over to them followed by Wesley.

"Sloppy, Cor, very sloppy, you never would have made a mistake like that in Sunnydale."

"Theses rules are getting all screwed up!" Cordelia muttered then saw Wesley fiddle with the curtain cord. " Don't touch that!" Wesley gave her a look and said " I was just closing these so Angel doesn't burst into flames." Cordelia glared at him. Angel looks around the apartment.

"This is nice...how about a tour."

"This is the livingroom,"Xander said motioning around " that's the kitchen." She pointed to it. Cordelia nodded.

"I'm going to knock out that wall. That's about it. Oh, thanks for the cactus!" Cordelia told them. Xander and Cordelia saw the pair of sciorors rise off the desk then fly straight at Angel's back. Xander snatches them midair.

"I can't believe you can afford this!" said Angel obvious to what had almost happen.  
Xander walks over to a desk and shoves the sciorors in the desk drawer. Then the top of the desk bugles up into the shape of a human face. Xander barely holds back a squeak of fright. She slams the drawer shut, then turns and leans against the desk.

"Cordy, lunch?" asked Xander. Cordelia frowned, 'Why is she thinking about her stomach at a time like this' she wondered. Then noticed the look on Xander's face.

"Oh, right! There's a place down the street." Cordelia told them, as one of the trophies one the mantel behind the guys flew off of it towards Wesley. Angel turns and catches it before it could hit Wesley.  
"It lunged at me!" Wesley said shocked.

"That thing it's be doing that all morning. I think the mantel is uneven." Cordelia said. Xander couldn't believe she said that, they weren't going to buy it.

"What is going on?" Angel asked looking around this for danger.

"Ok, it's not the mantel." Muttered Cordelia. Xander saw that she didn't want to tell them so Xander spoke up.

"It's a fault line. We get small tremors all the time..." Xander trailed off when she saw they weren't listening but staring at the wall behind her, she turned to look. The word DIE appeared slowly, in bloody red letters.

"Dear lord..." said Wesley.

'So Giles isn't the only one who says that in times of crisis.' thought Xander.

"Come on." Angel grabs one of Cordelia's arms and tries to pull her toward the door.

"I'm not giving up this apartment...Xander's not either!"

' Why is she speaking for me?' wondered Xander.

"It's haunted!" said Angel trying to reason with Cordelia.

"It's rent controlled." Cordelia threw back at him.

"Cordy, it says 'die'." Xander said coming up and taking her other arm and helps Angel pull her toward the door.

"Hey, maybe it's not done, maybe it's 'diet'. That's friendly...a little judgmental sure. Angel, I'm not giving up this apartment," She growled, " I need this, Xander needs this!

'There she goes talking for me again'  
Xander sighed.

"I know this place is beautiful, and how much you want it and in any other circumstance it would be soo, you. But, Cordy, you don't need this." Xander told her.

"It's just a place. Your more than that." Angel told Cordelia.

"How? How am I more than that?" asked Cordelia.  
Xander had never heard that tone from Cordelia before. It told how much she wanted this place. Xander who was a sucker for one of his girls turned to Wesley and asked, " Can we cleanse it?" Wesley looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Try and put the ghost to rest?" he asked. Xander nodded.

"Can we?" begged Cordelia holding on to hope that she could keep this apartment. Angel nodded. Anything to get them out of here, he didn't like ghosts they freaked him out. During all of that the wind in the apartment had started to pick back up.

"We can try, but we have to go now. We'll figure it out at the office." Angel told Cordelia.

"Ok," said Cordelia and stops when Xander and Angel almost had her out the door.  
"Listen up, Casper. You haven't won anything here! I'll die before I give up this apartment! You hear me! I'll die!" She yells back into the apartment. All of them were out of the place.

"Stop, giving it ideals, Cor!" Xander yells at her but the door to the apartment slammed shut. 


	9. Chapter 9

The Consequence of Perplexity Ch. 9

Xander sat at the computer looking things up about Cordelia's apartment up on the Internet, while Wesley was reading an old open book.

" A lot of stuff about that building, construction bids, city inspections." Said Xander.

Angel shook his head. " Tenants. We need people who lived there."

"...And died there. That's the ingredients for ghosts, right?" asked Cordelia while pours herself some coffee. Angel goes over to her.

"This isn't easy you know. I'm no Willow. So give me some time I'll get something we can use." Xander snarked. They all ignored her.

"You know, " Angel, said to Cordelia as he got some coffee " this really is just a place to live."

"No, it's so much more." She said shaking her head. " It's beautiful...and if it goes away...it's like I'm still getting punished."

"Punished?" Angel asked confused. Cordelia nods.

"For what?"

"I don't know. For what I was? For everything I said in high school. Just because I could get away with it? And in the end I had to pay for it. But this apartment...I could be me again! Punishment over. Welcome back to your life. Like...like I couldn't be that awful if I get to have a place like that? It's just like...you!"

Angel nods "Working for redemption"  
Cordelia frowns confused. "I mean cause you use to have that mansion!"

"Hey," Xander said to get everyone's attention.  
"I found something. Lady and gentlemen, we have a death"  
Cordelia and Angel walk over to Xander at the desk.

" First person to have ever lived their...Mrs. Maude Pearson!" said Xander.

"How did you get that?" asked Angel leaning over Xander's shoulder looking at the screen.

"The name carved over the entrance of the building," She told him, making 'duh!' face at him, " Pearson Arms. I checked the obits for a Pearson. We got lucky; turns out the old lady built the place and took a unit there. Then in 1946 she dropped dead of a heart attack in Cordy's living room, at the grand old age of 57."

"That's it! That her!" exclaimed Cordelia.

"I don't know," said Angel.  
"It's not a violent death. I mean ghosts usually..." Cordelia cut him off.

"That's her I know it! That place has the old lady smell..." She stopped as she tried to think of a way to describe the smell.

"Violets and aspercreme..." murmured Xander softly as she stared at the computer screen.

"Yeah, that's it." Cordelia agreed.

"Says here they didn't find the body for three weeks...so not violets at the end I'm thinking." Xander told them. Cordelia found all she needed to know and ran with it.

"This is easy. Little old lady ghost, probably hanging around because she thinks she left the iron on. Let's get a nice cleansing spell and do this thing!" She said excitedly.

Wesley shook his head as he flipped through the pages of the book he was holding.

"Well, this is not an easy spell." He said showing it to Xander.

"Hawthronberries, lungwart, and bile ...we need bile?" asked Xander.

"I can get some of the things at a magic shop I found...but the bile..."said Wesley uncertain.

"Do you think it matters what type of bile?" Xander wondered amusedly. Wesley shrugged. " Well, I have some contacts in Korea town. I'll give the name of the shop. Just tell them I sent you. They should be able to get anything you can't, Wesley."

"Oh, another one of Xander's contacts," muttered Cordelia, " Would this be the same ones that got me the nice poltergeist delicious apartment"  
Xander glared at her, and opened her mouth to say something...

"Xander, give Wesley your contacts name. Then Wesley can go to get the stuff we need. Xander will stay with Cordelia." Said Angel in a commanding tone. Xander gives Wesley the information then he leaves. Angel sighs.

"I'm gonna try to get more information. Maybe Kate can help. You both stay here." Angel told both girls as he walked out the door.

Xander turned to Cordelia and asked, " Who's Kate?"

"Angel's lady cop friend." Cordelia told her as she sat down in a chair.

"Is she blond"  
Cordelia looked surprised. " How did you know"  
Xander snorted to herself and shook her head saying nothing.

'I really don't get her.' Thought Cordelia.

"Little old lady ghost..."Cordelia sighed out.  
"How come Patrick Swayze is never dead when you need him to be."

The phone rings in the office a couple hours later, waking Xander who had been napping in a chair. Cordelia let the answering machine get it. She had told her last night Aura had been calling.

"Cordelia, Xander, are you there? Look I think we can end this whole thing." Angel voice came through the machine. Cordelia grabs up the receiver.

"I'm here...we're here. About time you called. You got something." She asked then listened for a moment. "Ok." Then hung up the phone.  
"Angel said for us to meet him at the apartment."

Cordelia opens the door to her place; it's dark and empty looking.

" I don't like this, Cor." Xander said looking around it felt cold.

"I'm in the bedroom, Cordelia. " Angel's voice called out. Cordelia started towards it. Then was grabbed by Xander.

"Cordelia, why would Angel be in your bedroom? This doesn't feel right"  
Cordelia shrugged.

"It's Angel. Who knows?" she said pulling away from Xander, who follows Cordelia. Cordelia steps into the bedroom, she looks around...nothing. She turns to Xander, " See you worry to much." Then the bedroom door slams shut with Cordelia in the room and Xander out in the hall. Xander grabs the doorknob and tries to open it...it won't open.  
Xander hears Cordelia let out a scream of fright. She beats on the door, and tell Cordelia to open from her side. Suddenly the door jerks open, and Cordelia runs out of the room, grabbing Xander and running toward the front door. Xander saw the spector of Maude Pearson standing infornt of them. Xander gets flung into a wall, as very thing starts to go back, she could hear Cordelia scream again. 


End file.
